1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a steering apparatus used in a vehicle, such as a passenger car, a truck and a bus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A steering apparatus used in a vehicle, for example, includes a steering wheel, a column shaft, a torque sensor input shaft, an intermediate shaft, and a rack-and-pinion mechanism. The column shaft is rotatably supported by a column tube. The above steering apparatus includes an eccentric pin mechanism that provides a variable ratio of a steering angle input from the steering wheel to a steered angle of the torque sensor input shaft, which is, for example, described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 3-227772 (JP-A-3-227772).
However, for applying the eccentric pin mechanism to a steering apparatus, it is necessary for both the column shaft and the torque sensor input shaft to include a structure such that one of an eccentric cam and an adapting plate that constitute the eccentric pin mechanism is connected to the column shaft and the other one of the eccentric cam and the adapting plate is connected to the torque sensor input shaft. Thus, it is difficult to use common components, such as the column shaft and torque sensor input shaft, between a steering apparatus that has no eccentric pin mechanism and a steering apparatus that has an eccentric pin mechanism.